August 2016: Flint Group has always been at the forefront of the development of UV LED compatible ink technology, and now by launching VANTAGE LED, they commit even further to the wide-scale introduction of this revolutionary technology.

The full suite of products and services included in VANTAGE LED consists of pre-conversion consulting and training, dedicated LED inks and coatings, matching pressroom chemicals and blankets, plus full customer support during and after conversion. At the heart of the system are UV LED lamps supplied by Air Motion Systems, the top provider of UV LED technology to the sheetfed offset industry.

VANTAGE LED offers reassurance to users of legacy UV methods, and is particularly beneficial for those printers who have had no exposure to UV curing methods but are keen to take advantage of the considerable benefits of LED. Flint Group’s technical team will walk each individual customer through the process, step-by-step, to ensure the full potential of UV LED technology is realised in every case.

UV LED curing is taking off with sheetfed commercial printers who want to offer faster turnarounds and expand the range of substrates they can print on, as well as existing UV curing printers looking to reduce their energy consumption and remove heat and ozone from their process.

UV LED for sheetfed printers offers many benefits including –

The printed sheets are dry immediately.

Spray powder is eliminated.

In many cases oil-based or water-based overprint varnishes and coatings used for protection are no longer needed, resulting in material and energy cost savings.

Jim Buchanan, Global UV Business Development Director for Flint Group Packaging& Narrow Web, comments: “LED curing technology will change sheetfed offset printing forever; there is no doubt. VANTAGE LED has been developed to ensure those wishing to convert to LED curing can do so with confidence in a very short space of time. Our expert print technicians will audit an operation in the first instance and a full cost-benefit analysis will follow; a press can be converted in as little as one day. We have seen a staggering increase in factory-fitted LED presses, but the process of converting existing presses to LED, with retro-fitted lamp systems, allows printers a fast track to the benefits this technology brings.”